


your mouth is poison; your mouth is wine

by mellivias



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-09-23 20:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9674363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellivias/pseuds/mellivias
Summary: What would have happened in that bathroom if Frankie Vargas had been shot just a few moments later? Spoilers through season 6.





	1. 6x01

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by the song "Poison and Wine" by The Civil Wars.

“I’m sorry I lost.” Olivia’s voice sounds hollow, but there’s something in her words that makes Mellie believe she means it. The two women are perched on the floor of the bathroom, Mellie in the bathtub and Olivia leaning against it, passing a bottle of champagne back and forth. 

There’s silence for a long moment before Mellie sighs. “No. Thank you. For everything,” she says softly. If there’s one thing she knows, it’s that she couldn’t have made it this far without Olivia. Olivia Pope, the woman who she’d pinned as her mortal enemy for so many years. Olivia Pope, who she’d been certain would be the cause of her demise. The same Olivia that seduced her cheating husband and stole the white house for him time and time again. Now she’d put her blood, sweat, and tears into winning Mellie the white house, only to lose to their insidious former ally, Cyrus Beane. Mellie had somehow grown to love this woman. It had happened slowly. Late nights at OPA brainstorming campaign strategies and eating leftover Thai food, and so many shared bottles of wine after exhausting days of work had brought the two women together. They’re friends now, Mellie thinks, and sometimes after a shared glance across the room at a press event, she wonders if there’s even more to it. 

Mellie gently lays her hand over the edge of the tub. Liv lets it linger there for a moment before curling her fingers around Mellie’s. Both women try to ignore the electricity.

“Liv,” Mellie says quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I wanted this.” Olivia’s not sure if she’s referring to the moment they’ve just shared or the presidency. Both, she hopes. Liv pushes herself off of the floor and joins Mellie in the tub. She sits close enough to her that she can feel the warmth radiating off of her. 

“Mellie,” Liv starts. She takes the champagne bottle from Mellie’s hand and takes a swig. She lays the bottle on the edge of the tub and turns to look at the woman beside her. “You deserve to be president.” Her words are full of apology. Liv is not someone who loses very often, but Mellie is well accustomed to the feeling. Liv had wanted this for her – for them. She’d wanted to give Mellie this victory. God knows she deserved it. Mellie had given up so much of herself for Fitz and all his glory. Now it was her turn. Olivia doesn’t know if Mellie could ever forgive her for all the hurt she’s caused. 

Mellie looks at Olivia for a long time. Olivia’s eyes flutter down to her hand, which has found its way onto Mellie’s thigh. She looks back up at Mellie. Mellie moves closer to Olivia, slowly, but with confidence. Soon, her lips are inches from Liv’s. They can taste each other’s breath. 

Olivia is the one that finally closes the distance between them. Their lips connect, and Olivia slides her tongue along the inside of Mellie’s mouth. Her hand moves further up Mellie’s thigh, and Mellie tangles her hand into Olivia’s hair. The kiss is slow and deep. Both women forget about the half a dozen people standing outside the door of the bathroom, lost in the softness of each other’s lips. 

It feels like forever before Olivia pulls away. Mellie’s lips are pink and swollen, her eyes wide. 

“Do you try to seduce everyone whose campaign you run?” Mellie whispers, after a long silence. Olivia grins. She kisses Mellie again, this time for only a second. 

“What can I say? Power turns me on.”


	2. 6x04

Not much has changed since Liv kissed her, but Mellie feels like a new woman. She had thought things with Marcus had been great, but this was different. One kiss with Liv has Mellie feeling the way she’d felt after weeks of sleeping with Marcus. She knows it’s cheesy, but she swears colours are brighter and smells are sweeter now that she’s tasted the lips of Olivia Pope. 

The two women haven’t talked about their shared moment since it happened. Things have been a whirlwind since then. Frankie Vargas was shot only moments after the kiss, and neither woman has really ever had time to process it. They are closer now to the white house than they’ve ever been before, and neither woman can afford to get distracted. 

And now, this. Now Cyrus Beane is in jail. And Mellie is a few days away from being elected. Her dream is more tangible now than it has ever been. 

Liv leans back on the sofa in her office, as a beaming Mellie turns up the volume of their victory music and sets her wine down on the desk. She starts to dance, jutting her hips out and waving her hands to a rhythm that does not match the music. A grin spreads across Olivia’s face as she watches. Mellie Grant dances like what she is: a white politician and mother. Liv cocks an eyebrow. 

“Oh, so we’re dancing now,” she says with a short chuckle. 

“We are dancing!” Mellie gushes, sticking her arms out and letting the music move her. “Because I am going to be president of the United States of America.” 

Mellie moves closer to Liv and grabs her hand, pulling her onto the makeshift dance floor that is Liv’s dimly lit office. Liv is suddenly acutely aware that this is the second time she and Mellie have held hands within a matter of days. 

“Potus 45!” Mellie sings, lifting Liv’s hands and and continuing to dance. Liv sings back with a grin. The women dance, Liv’s moves soft and smooth while Mellie’s limbs flail and jerk. But something about the way she oozes confidence even with her lack of rhythm is kind of sexy. Liv is thinking about kissing her again.

It's then that she notices Quinn and Charlie peaking nosily through the glass pane of the door. Her heart drops slightly in her chest, and she wonders if they can read her feelings towards Mellie plain on her face. They are trained B13 agents after all. She has to play it cool. Fortunately, the ability to “play it cool” is one of Olivia’s best assets.

“Really?” Liv accuses, a hand on her hip, as she approaches the guilty Quinn and Charlie. The threesome banter about the spying and Liv keeps her tone even and confident. 

“I didn’t know the leader of the free world was supposed to twerk,” Quinn says dryly. 

“Stop watching,” Olivia scolds. “Have a little respect. She’s not the leader of the free world. Not yet.”

Liv's heart is melting for a certain dancing woman with dreams of the white house, sure, but she is still Olivia Pope. She knows that this is reality, and Liv’s reality is never too kind. She can’t let herself believe that this is happening. Not yet. 

“We are not there until we are there,” she tells Quinn. She explains to them that the election isn’t over. “Don’t make me come out here again,” she says finally, after her lecture, as she glances back at Mellie, who is still dancing, oblivious to the conversation happening only a few feet away.

Charlie and Quinn pack up their things and tell Liv they are headed out, and she feels a wave of relief. Maybe she and Mellie can have some peace, for the first time in weeks.

“You’re crazy,” Liv jokes, re-entering her office. 

“Mmm,” Mellie hums, mostly ignoring her. She moves her hips gently as the song starts to fade out. When it ends, Mellie dances her way back to the stereo remote to change the song. This time it’s a slower song that seeps through the speakers. Her dancing changes tempo. She glides towards Liv, who is still standing awkwardly in the doorway. Mellie puts her hands on Olivia’s hips. 

“Dance with me,” she says. Liv smiles, slightly embarrassed -- embarrassed that she is dancing like a fool in the middle of her office with the potential future president of the United States, and even more embarrassed that all she can think about is how soft Mellie’s lips look. 

Reluctantly, Liv puts her arms around Mellie’s neck. They move gently together. Mellie giggles softly. 

“So, what you said before, was that true?” Mellie asks, as they sway together. 

“What did I say?”

“You said that power turns you on.”

Olivia looks away, avoiding Mellie’s eyes, fearing she might melt if she looks directly into them. 

“Because no one has more power than the leader of the free world,” Mellie says softly. “Does this turn you on?” She pulls Olivia closer to her and kisses her gently. 

Liv closes her eyes. Mellie is so soft. And she smells so good. 

She deepens their kiss. Olivia’s hands move to Mellie’s face. Mellie’s hands start to roam. They glide over Liv’s hips and find their way onto her ass. She pulls Liv as close as she can get her. Neither woman is thinking about anything but the feeling of the other’s body up against them.

Liv pauses for a breath before guiding Mellie backwards towards the sofa. Mellie obliges, kicking her heels off and laying on her back. Liv climbs on top of her, straddling the brunette, and dives right back into the kiss before she can think about all of the reasons why she shouldn’t. She needs to stop thinking, and start doing.

Mellie must be reading Liv’s mind, because she kisses more intensely now, her hands on Liv’s lower back. Liv pulls her lips apart from Mellie’s and plants a trail of kisses from her chin to her collarbone. Mellie moans softly. 

“Let’s get this off,” Mellie says with a smirk, gently sliding Liv’s cardigan off her arms. Liv laughs and helps her speed up the process by throwing the cardigan to the ground. Her shirt comes off next, revealing her smooth skin and black bra. Mellie practically purrs. 

It’s Mellie’s turn to undress now. She sits up and Liv reaches behind her for the zipper on her dress. The dress is off in a matter of seconds, leaving Mellie in her bra and thong. Liv admires her for a moment before pushing her back down on the sofa and kissing her neck again. 

“You’re so sexy, Madam President,” Liv whispers into Mellie’s ear, sending a shudder of pleasure through her body. 

“Mm, I could get used to this,” Mellie says, grinning. 

Olivia kisses her, long and hard. “Me too.”


	3. 6x09

“Huck is missing.”

Her voice sounds hollow. Olivia is sitting on the edge of her desk, her cell phone to her ear, and a full glass of scotch beside her. This disaster calls for something stronger than wine. Scotch is always what she drinks at her lowest point. It reminds her of Fitz. She doesn’t miss him anymore, but she misses the way she felt about him. And she misses how he always had the answer. That’s what she needs right now: an answer.

“Liv, are you okay?” Mellie asks from the other end of the phone. Olivia realizes she’s been silent for a while now. 

“I don’t know what to do,” she says, and for once, this is true. The gladiators are hard at work in the next room over, looking for something – anything – to lead them to Huck, dead or alive. Liv helped for a while, but she felt like she was just taking up space. And every time she looked at Abby, guilty and defenceless, sitting in the corner of the room, Liv felt a hot rage rip through her. 

Now, in the quiet of her office, something had drawn her to her phone, to dial Mellie’s all too familiar number. She just needed to hear her voice. 

“I’m sorry,” Mellie says quietly. Her voice makes Olivia feel steady again. “You’ll find him. You are Olivia Pope.” 

Olivia smiles sadly through the phone. She doesn’t feel much like Olivia Pope right now. 

“Do you want me to come to OPA?” Mellie asks, with a softness in her voice. She speaks so tenderly to Olivia these days, ever since the two started sleeping together. No one in the office knows, or they’re at least quiet about it. Liv likes having a harmless little secret. She hardly ever has the luxury. 

“No, it’s okay.” Mostly, Liv doesn’t want Mellie to see her like this. Quinn and Abby and all the rest of them have seen her at her lowest points, but Liv has made sure that Mellie only knows Strong Olivia. White Hat Olivia. Gladiator Olivia. Mellie is the one bright spot in her life right now, and Liv doesn’t need to tie her up in all of this mess. 

“Okay. Call me if you need me. You’ll find him, Liv. I know it, and Huck knows it.” 

“Thank you,” she says, her voice catching in her throat. She hangs up, but almost immediately, Liv thinks about calling her back. “I do need you,” she would say, “I always need you.” But that would be too much for either of them to handle. The two are content to leave some things unspoken. 

So Olivia takes a deep breath and rejoins her gladiators. Mellie may not have had the answers, but what she has given her is far better.


	4. Chapter 4

“Senator.” 

The word is sharp, and it cuts through the silent tension in the room. Mellie recoils. 

“Don’t call me that. Not here,” Mellie says. Olivia is standing in the entrance of Mellie’s living room, her expression flawlessly stoic. She’s still in work mode, and it puts Mellie on edge.

The two women have been through Hell and back in the past, well, however many hours it’s been. Mellie’s stopped keeping track. She’s on autopilot now. She’s spent hours on end staring into space, only taking breaks to eat when Olivia tells her to. 

She watched Elizabeth North die in front of her. It was a brutal death, and to the hands of the same villains that assassinated her undeserving political opponent. And Mellie can’t help but feel that it’s her fault. If she hadn’t been so stupid – if she’d just listened to Olivia…

Olivia. She’s still standing in the doorway. “Mellie,” she says softly, correcting her previous greeting.

“I want to see them. Teddy and Karen. I need to see them,” Mellie says, the words stumbling from her lips. Her voice sounds far away. 

“That’s not a good idea.” 

“For fuck’s sake, Olivia!”

“You’re in shock. You’re no good to them like this. Teddy is with Fitz and we’ve increased Karen’s security at school. They’re safe. I promise.” Olivia enters the room now. She sits beside Mellie on the couch and drops her purse at her feet. She reaches for Mellie’s hand, like she did just days ago in the OPA office, when she told her she couldn’t take her to the White House. She never imagined she’d see Mellie looking more crushed than she did then. But the version of Mellie before her now is one Olivia had never seen. This is a mother who has lost a child, and is scared for the others. This is a women who was face to face with death just hours earlier. Mellie is broken, and Liv has no idea how to fix her. More and more recently, it’s seeming like Mellie Grant is the one person Olivia Pope can’t “handle.”

“You need sleep,” Olivia says, after a stretch of silence. She takes her hand away, but Mellie gently pulls it back into hers. 

“Will you stay here tonight?” Mellie asks, gently and longingly. 

Olivia knows she owes it to Mellie to stay. The image of a shock-ridden Mellie, comes back to her, stunned and helpless, her eyes avoiding the corpse of Liz North. “Don’t go,” Mellie had begged then, and Olivia hadn’t listened. It was a small act of defiance in response to a Mellie who had been slipping away from her in the days previous, blind to her dreams of an honest presidential victory. 

Instead of replying, Liv kisses her, tenderly. Mellie melts into her kiss. When it’s over, she lets herself collapse into Liv’s arms, as she’s so desired to do for days. In a moment, she’s crying, and Liv can feel the soft tears collecting on the hem of her shirt. 

That night, Liv stays over for the first time. They sleep in their underwear under Mellie’s satin sheets, Liv’s arms tucked around the woman for whom her fondness grows every day. She wishes that they could stay here forever, but tonight will have to do.


End file.
